Buddy Harman, RIP

[GA Russell]

I have to think that Oh! Pretty Woman was the song he was most famous for, but look at the hits he played on!

Here is his Long Beach Press-Telegram obituary:

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_10279669

<h1 id="articleTitle" class="articleTitle">Renowned Music Row and Nashvile drummer Buddy Harman has died</h1>By Peter CooperArticle Launched: 08/22/2008 07:39:18 PM PDT

var requestedWidth = 0; if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Buddy Harman, the percussion heartbeat of Music Row and Nashville's best-known and most-recorded drummer, died Thursday evening of congestive heart failure. He was 79.

A native of Nashville who was born Murrey Mizell Harman Jr., Harman played drums on more than 18,000 recordings, including Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman," Patsy Cline's "Crazy," Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man," Ray Price's "Crazy Arms" and Elvis Presley's "Little Sister." He was the first staff drummer on the Grand Ole Opry and the first prominent drummer in country music history, according to a country music book author.

"Buddy Harman set the standard, both quantitatively and qualitatively, for what a great country drummer should be," wrote David Cantwell in "Heartaches by the Number: Country Music's Greatest Singles." "The mind boggles at the number of musically distinctive and emotionally fitting ways Harman found to lay down a beat."

Harman helped invent the country shuffle during the "Crazy Arms" session, and he was enough of a musical chameleon to play pounding rock 'n' roll on "Pretty Woman," stately, restrained pop on "I'm Sorry," graceful swing on Roger Miller's "King of the Road" and straight-ahead country on Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter."

Country music historian Eddie Stubbs said of Harman, "If anybody could be called the father of modern country drumming, it would be Buddy. He defined the role of the

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drums in country music. No matter the song, he knew what to play. More importantly, he knew what not to play. Always." Harman is survived by wife Marsha Marvell Irby, two daughters and three sons. Details about a memorial service were not yet available.